If Winchester College don't accept DS1 what about Charterhouse?

Probably going to apply to Winchester for DS1. If he does not get offered a place would Charterhouse be an alternative? He is bright, quirky and likes drama and music, but not good at sport or art. He would have to be a full boarder as we live a short plane ride away. I'm worried that the boys will all be busy playing sport or going home at the weekend. Should I be concerned or am I just being neurotic?

If he doesn't get into Winchester it will probably only be down to academic intellect and if it was a borderline case then he should get into Charterhouse. Have you thought of applying to a little school called Eton, or Harrow?

If I were you. I'd worry about that short plane ride. You do know it is going to be shot down by exocets fired by Mumsnetters?

You are only allowed to use public schools if you (a) have children with special needs (b) have special needs yourself (c) are a single parent valiantly trying to hold down a job or (d) all the local state schools are in special measures.

If option (d) applies to you, you will still get some condemnatory comments about your lack of parental involvement for not trying single-handedly to pull that school out of special measures.

DN is at Winchester. He doesn't go home at w/ends. He does play sport though, but lots don't. They only take full boarders there anyway, a handful of day places but day fees are practically the same as boarding as they encourage full boarding.

Plane ride is necessary due to body of water between us and UK. Have thought of those other schools, but DH can't be doing with the percieved poshness and the silly uniforms. I think, he thinks they are too stuffy. I'm confident that DS1 would get into Charterhouse, I was just wondering if he would feel left out if everybody was obsessed with sport. Also I am under the impression that the school empties out on Saturday afternoon, which would leave DS alone or with the odd overseas boys. I suppose his Russian or Manderin might improve considerably!

E and H have got to be the most unstuffy schools I have ever come across. I have close connections with Winchester and although the school has good qualities it is very stuffy in comparison to the other two. On the whole I would say that a boy who is right for Winchester would not be right for Charterhouse.

Quattro: I am very about these threads because I just think there must be a better forum for discussing very specific details about particular public schools?

Why do they all pop up on Mumsnet?

I know we are all frightfully middle class on here but, yet, I'd hazard a guess that 75% of us don't send our dc to public schools and 99% of us don't send them to the really really really expensive ones like Winchester.

So who does the op think she is talking to? A handful of people at most. Why not try and find this very specific sort of information elsewhere?

How old is ds1 and which sports has he tried and been found to be not good at? Boys change a lot between 9 and 13, and whilst your ds may not be the keenest football player, he may find rowing, golf, fencing, shooting or something else does appeal.

My friends had places at both Winchester and Charterhouse for both their sons - and chose Charterhouse both times. Neither boy is sport mad, both are clever and one is musical. No idea if this is helpful but I think one of the deciding factors for them was the house and housemaster.

Bibbity- I'm sorry if this thread makes you cross but if I knew of another forum I can assure you I would like to be using it. For the record Winchester college and other similar public schools are only marginally more expensive than the less well known ones. If you are going to invest your hard earned cash in your children's education and spend £28000+ a year, you want to make sure you get it right and most importantly that your child will thrive in the environment and be happy if they are going to board. We do not live in the UK and therefore it is quite difficult find out what it is really like in some of these schools compared to people who live more locally, that will know a larger cohort of children at these boarding schools.

Mrs wobble- thank you for your helpful commentsLadymuck- he is in year 5. I agree with you. Keep hoping that he will find something he can feel he is ok at and most importantly enjoy. In the meantime he plays an instrument and loves drama so hopefully he can get stuck in to those things and just do sport to keep fit and hopefully have fun at the sane time.

Yotty, you've every right to pose your questions here. The Mumsnet mods see no problems in your posting (neither do I) and I don't see why the greeneyes have it in them that this site is their own private playground.

Back to your OP, I consider Winchester to be very academic, perhaps the most academic amongst the major public schools barring Westminister. A good friend of mine used to be a senior master at Winchester but left a few years ago to teach at another famous public school where he is leaving again later this year to take up a post of Head of (Subject) Dept at Westminster.

I can assure you at most full-time boarding schools there are loads of pupils from abroad as far as Thailand, Korea, China and Japan. They have full programmes even at weekends, perhaps half-day Sundays, and most of the time they are being supervised. And no, they are not left to themselves if they are not sporty. There's always some other things that they can do and enjoy.

QuattroAnd this si the ideal place to ask about specific schools - don't have to read the thread if you don't know about them or anren't interested - no reason why anyone can't post about the relative merits of St Chav Community School v Staballey Comp, or ebtween St Cakes and Snoot Hall - there will doubless be people on here who have or know children that go there and can give useful advice.

It was not my intention to start a slanging match. I was just wondering if Charterhouse would suit my son if he didn't get into Winchester. My DH feels very strongly that as we are not in the country it would be sensible that the school is close to our family. That therefore, limits our choices to west Sussex, Hampshire, Surrey and Dorset. Charterhouse seemed to tick the boxes as it is in the right location, is pretty academic and high ratio of boarders to day pupils. Open to any other suggestions.